Pole or thill for vehicles



(No Model.)

G. L. OLAPP.

POLE 0R THILL FOR VEHICLES.

No. 393,296. Patented Nov. 20,1888.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE LANSING OLAPP, OF ITHAOA, NEW YORK.

POLE OR THILL FOR VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 393,296, dated November 20, 1888.

Application filed June 11, 1888. Serial No. 276,781. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE LANSING GLAPP, a citizen of theUnited States, residing at Ithaca, Tompkins county, New York, have invented an Improved Pole or Thill Gearing for \rVagons and Sleighs, of which the following is a specification,reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to the means of making poles and thills of vehicles adjustable to their various widths; and the nature of my invention will be apparent as I describe it.

Figure 1 is a view looking down upon a light wagonpole. Fig. 2 is a view looking down on a pole with a straight head-bar with my adjustable draft-irons. Fig. 3 is a view looking down on a pole whose crossbar is made of iron. Fig. 4 is a transverse section of the head-bar of Fig. 3. Fig. dis a cross-section of the head-bar ofFig. 2. Fig. 6 is a cross-section of Fig. I. Fig. 7 is a detached'view of the bar on which the draftironsare adjusted; and Fig. Sis another view of the end of a curved head-bar.

In the. figures, a is the pole, with iron braces b, to the rear of which is attached the head-bar d, and e c are the draft-irons of the various figures. In Fig. 1 the head'bar is made of wood curved and with the iron bars 6, on which the draft-irons are adjusted in the rear hollow made by the curve of the wood head-bar (i, this bar stiffening the head-bar; and c are the bolts that hold the draft-irons c to the bar c, on which they slide in the rear hollow thus made. In Fig. 2 the head-bar is made straight, with the bar 6 fast along its whole length. The dotted lines indicate the cutting out of the wood of the bar to give a space for the bolt-heads to slide in. In Fig. 3 the head-bar is made of hollow angle-iron, which serves the same purposes as the wood part d and iron bar e ofthe other figures,its two halves being inclined and bolted to the pole a. The principle in these three forms is one and the same, and is that the bar 6 is attached to a and in the rear hollow of the head-bar, and a space is provided for an adjustment of the bolt-heads of the draft-irons while sliding in the slotted bar e, and that the draft-irons are also in the rear hollows of the head-bar. In Fig. 3 the bar 6 and each half of the head-bar are made of one piece of metal. One of these component several parts-the draft-irons cis provided with eyes f, that connect them to the axle-clips of the wagon or the runnerclips of the sleigh. The slide-bar e is slotted,

as indicated in Fig. 7. Numerals in Figs. 1,

2, and 3, by their lines indicate the lines of transverse sections.

At a, Fig. 2, dotted lines indicate the posi- 6o tions of thills when the head-bar of that figure is used for sleighs. \Vagon-thills I make by a similar adaptation. The bars 6, when desirable, Istamp with lines of inches and parts of inches on their rear surfaces; and I use, when thought best, a clamp about the bar 6 and the draft-irons c as a security in case one of the bolts 0, and especially the one at the outer ends of the draft-irons, should break. They areindicated at 0, Figs. 1 and 3.

Fig. 8 represents a head-bar whose ends are several inches shorter than that seen in Fig. 1, which is accomplished by making the draftirons c with less abrupt curves at their ends, and longer and reaching farther outward, so that the elip-socketsfare beyond the end of the bar, and by these changes a lighter appearance is given to the pole; also, in Fig.

8 it will be noticed that by giving bulk to the ends of the wood part of the bar, as indicated, itis no longer necessary to excavate the ends of the bar, as represented in Fig. l by the dotted lines at each end of the bar 6; also,

in Fig. 8 a loop-iron is represented to be attached beneath the bar at c, to the front end of which is buckled a leather strap for the whiffletrees and a rear strap that secures the ends of the pole to the wagon-axle in case of accident to the parts at the ends of the pole. All else is believed to be apparent.

I claim 1. The combination of the curved head-bar d and the adjustable draft-irons c, with the straight bracing slotted bars 6, which span the curves of the head-bar, substantially as set 5 forth.

2. In the described pole and thill wagongearing, the lug or draft irons c, and the bars 6, adapted and fitted to the rear hollow or curve of the head-bar, in combination with the too head-bar d, as set forth.

GEO. LANSING OLAPP- W'itnesses:

S. J. PARKER, M. O. HILLICK. 

